[tz] Classifying IDs

Clive D.W. Feather clive at davros.org
Fri Oct 8 15:48:10 UTC 2021


Stephen Colebourne via tz said:
> > > Legally described mega-zones
> > > -----------------------------------------
> > The EU doesn't define "CET" or "WET", or even specify the names.
> > So, since these don't describe "places keeping the same time since 1970",
> > what exactly are they and why do we have them?
> 
> If done properly, they would only exist from the date that the rule
> was first established. As per the first of my threads, they are needed
> because CET does not have the same semantic meaning as Europe/Berlin.

And what is the semantic meaning of "CET"? As I said, I can't find any
legal definition of it.

> > Hang on, why should we ever add a new ID at all. My view is that we should
> > *not* be adding new IDs. So long as we're talking about a post-1970
> > database, that is. In other words, the rule is "they stay for backwards
> > compatibility reasons and no other".
> 
> Imagine Shetland broke away from the UK. Imagine this was undisputed
> and it joined the UN with everyone around the world happy to recognise
> it, thus it gets its own ISO code. But as a self-governing country it
> chooses to continue to follow the same timezone as London.
> 
> tzdb would then be in the position that it has an ID representing a
> location in every European country except Shetland.

Not true. What about Sealand and Liberland, to name two others?

> I contend that this is an untenable position for tzdb
> to place itself in.

I disagree.

>> And IANA have long given up on that policy, which is
>> why there are .gg and .scot.
> The IANA rule is still working just fine. GG is an ISO code.

Not for the first 10 years that .gg .je and .im.

And what about .ac and .eu?

IANA are *not* following ISO-3166.

> And .scot
> is a generic tld not a country-code one.

It still got approved for Scotland, though.

-- 
Clive D.W. Feather          | If you lie to the compiler,
Email: clive at davros.org     | it will get its revenge.
Web: http://www.davros.org  |   - Henry Spencer
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